Craft Beer 101

Curious about diving deeper into the world of beer but don’t know where to start? This section is where you want to be. You’ll having a better understanding of beer and a solid foundation of knowledge that will open up doors your never knew existed.

The 3-part series below will give you the essential information, using pictures and video to make it a better learning experience. Then, down below on this page you can find the true definition of craft beer.

Essential Beer Information

These articles will build your foundation of beer knowledge. Learn the basics before moving on to beer mastery.

What is Craft Beer?

And how is it different than the yellow fizzy stuff people drink at tailgates? Well there is a technical definition and there is the “everyday” definition. First the technical jargon..

Craft beer is made by craft brewers that possess 3 key traits. They are:

Small: Their annual production is less than 2 million barrels ( 62 million gallons) 6 million barrels (recently changed)Independent: Less than 25% of the brewery is owned by a non-craft brewerTraditional: Greater than 50% of their volume comes from all-malt beer, instead of using mostly adjuncts (e.x. rice, corn) like that mega-breweries use. This basically means they use higher quality ingredients.

You can find more details on the Brewer’s Association website, but let’s talk about some of the more common ways you may hear craft beer referred to in day to day conversation:

There are many different terms to describe it, but we’re all essentially talking about the same thing. You know it when you see it…it’s beer that is different. It has complexity, uniqueness, and variety. It’s beer that has flavor. It’s Craft beer.